Velocity Frequent Flyer and Optus launched a new partnership back in November that gives members the opportunity to earn Velocity Points when they take up a new eligible mobile phone or data plan, or upgrade their current plan.
This partnership is currently the only link-up between a frequent flyer program and telco in the Australian market.
Current offer to earn Velocity Points on Optus plans
You can get paid between 3,000 and 30,000 bonus Velocity Points when you take out or upgrade to an eligible Optus plan by 12 March. You must keep your service active for three months (89 days).
Based on our valuation of Velocity Points at 1.8c each, the maximum 30,000-point bonus is worth $540.
Eligible mobile phone and data plans
Eligible services are:
- month-to-month SIM-only plans (for phones)
- month-to-month data SIM plans (for tablets and wearables)
This offer is available to those who are:
- signing up as a new Optus customer; or
- signing up for a new contract term as an existing Optus customer
You must complete your purchase online to receive points (not in-store or over the phone).
As you can expect, the more expensive the plan, the more points you’ll earn. The best value by far comes from signing up to the $79/month SIM-only plan (when you BYO phone). You’ll fork out $237 for your service over the three months and you’ll receive 30,000 Velocity Points, worth $540.
Conversely, at the lower end, you can earn 6,000 points when you take out a $39/month plan. This plan will cost you $117 over the three months and you’ll only receive $108 worth of points, meaning it’s not really worth it.
Note that you cannot earn Velocity Points on broadband, NBN or business plans.
What can you do with 30,000 Velocity Points?
That bonus (plus an extra 5,500 points + the required taxes and fees) can get you a one-way Business Class flight between the East and West Coast.
Here’s some other ideas on how to best use Velocity Points.
How to take advantage of this offer
- Check out the dedicated Optus-Velocity website
- Read the terms and conditions on this page carefully
- Choose one of the plans listed as eligible for Velocity Points earn
- Keep your Optus plan for at least 89 days
- Wait up to two weeks after that for the points to land in your Velocity account
- Understand that cancellation fees will apply if you are paying off a device and break your contract
Velocity-Optus offer history
- February-March 2020: 3,000-30,000 bonus Velocity Points for signing or re-signing
- November-December 2019: 2,000-40,000 bonus Velocity Points for signing or re-signing
Previous partnerships to earn frequent flyer points on mobile phone plans in Australia
Velocity Frequent Flyer
You could previously earn Velocity Points with Virgin Mobile, but that company was folded into Optus.
Qantas Frequent Flyer
Up until June 2019, you could earn Qantas Points with Vodafone.
Optus was also a Qantas partner from 2011 until 2015.
flybuys
Both Telstra and Optus have previously offered flybuys points for sign-ups to their plans.
Summing up
It’s a shame that we don’t have more opportunities in Australia to earn points on what is an (almost) essential expense in today’s digital world.
Having said that, having at least one avenue to earn Velocity Points when signing up for a new Optus mobile phone or data plan is welcome.
Let’s hope that the other telcos and Qantas and/or flybuys revive similar partnerships that they’ve had the past.
You can sign up to an Optus plan and earn Velocity Points here.
Current offer terms and conditions
New Service Velocity Frequent Flyer Points offer: New Service Velocity Frequent Flyer Points offer is available until 12 March 2020 for customers, residing in Australia, who are current Velocity members, who sign up to an Eligible Optus Service (set out below) as a New Service, via https://optus.com.au/velocity, and stay connected for 3 months (89 days). Eligible Optus Services are: a) the $39 (6,000 Points), $49 (12,000 Points), $59 (15,000 Points), $79 (30,000 Points) Optus Choice Packaged Plans; b) the $15 (3,000 Points), $25 (4,500 Points), $50 (10,500 Points) Data Plan; or c) $10 (1,500 Points) Connected Device Plan (Tablets, Watches and Data Sims) with a new 12, 24 or 36 month Device Payment Plan. Customer must stay connected for 3 months (89 days) after activation to be eligible to receive Points (Qualification Period). Points will be applied to your Velocity account within 14 days of the end of the Qualification Period (103 days in total from activation). If you cancel before the end of the Qualification Period, you will not be eligible to receive any Points. Your Velocity account must be registered with the same name as your Optus account. Offer not available with any other offers, unless specified. Members must provide their Velocity membership number at time of sign up to be eligible to receive Velocity Points. Velocity Points cannot be claimed retrospectively. Optus terms and conditions for the selected Eligible Optus Service apply. A member’s Velocity Points will expire 24 months after the date of last Velocity account activity. Members are subject to the Velocity Membership Terms and Conditions as amended from time to time.
Existing Optus Customer Velocity Frequent Flyer Points offer: Existing Customer Velocity Frequent Flyer Points offer available until 12 March 2020, for existing Optus customers residing in Australia, who are current Velocity members, who recontract their Existing Optus Service via https://optus.com.au/velocity to the $39 (6,000 Points), $49 (12,000 Points), $59 (15,000 Points) or $79 (30,000 Points) Optus Choice Packaged Plans with a new 12, 24 or 36 month Handset Payment Plan and stay connected for 3 months (89 days). If you recontract to an Optus Choice Package Plan, you may need to pay out any remaining device repayment or cancellation fees related to your previous service on your next bill. Customer must stay connected for 3 months (89 days) in order to be eligible to receive Points (Qualification Period). Points will be applied to your Velocity account within 14 days of the end of the Qualification Period (103 days in total from recontract). If you cancel before the end of the Qualification Period, you will not be eligible to receive any Points. Offer not available with any other offers, unless specified. Your Velocity account must be registered with the same name as your Optus account. Members must provide their Velocity membership number at time of recontract to be eligible to receive Velocity Points. Velocity Points cannot be claimed retrospectively. Optus terms and conditions for the selected Eligible Optus Service apply. A member’s Velocity Points will expire 24 months after the date of last Velocity account activity. Members are subject to the Velocity Membership Terms and Conditions as amended from time to time.
Supplementary image courtesy Telstra.
You will need to assess your own financial situation and personal travel behaviour to determine whether this offer is suitable for you, however, do note that applying for a mobile plan does create a credit check on your credit report, so that is something you should definitely consider if you are not planning on actually using the plan.
Imagine I buy for example the $79 month to month plan SIM only for each member of my family and myself, which would be 5 sim cards. I keep all of them at least 89 days and I buy all of them under my name and my Velocity number. Do I get 5 times the 30 000 points i.e. 150,000 points in total?
Reading the conditions of the offer it seems to be the case, but prefer to double check. If you could help, it would be great.
There doesn’t seem to be a limit per customer. However, what I would suggest you do to be safe is make sure all of your family members have separate Velocity numbers. Set up family pooling. Activate one service under each name. If you’re the head of the Velocity family pooling, then you’ll receive all the points.